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UNCW’s Ann Flack Boseman Gallery, located on the second floor of the Fisher Student Center, has a new exhibit that audiences can enjoy through early August. Artist Hailey Black, Studio Art and Art History alum of UNCW, was chosen to show her exhibit Liberation of the Individual in the gallery.

In piecing together her exhibit, Black used materials of canvas, sculptures, fabric collages, watercolor, paper and steel. She managed to put together an exhibit that celebrates individuality and self-expression through exploring conflicting emotions and blending together different mediums.

“The idea behind the whole show was allowing the individual to be completely and unequivocally oneself,” Black said. “We are all hiding behind these facades in our everyday lives: your social media posts, gritting through a smile at your 9-5, etc., and I wanted people to be able to shed that when they walked into the gallery. To think about nothing but the art in front of them.”

Black started some of the pieces while she was still in her last two semesters of school. She was asked to do the show after graduating, at which point she continued to piece together the remaining artifacts that would be a part of Liberation of the Individual.

Due to this, audiences can see a progression in converting from student to post-graduate artist.

For now, she finds herself in an oxymoron. Without pieces made from coursework, the pressure of teachers and specificity is no longer there. As an alum, she must channel her own voice as an artist with the freedom to make whatever she wants.

There were no professors to provide Black with direction and specificity, leaving her to her own intuitions.

“My style was slightly different a year ago than it is now,” she said.” I feel like it was a bit more controlled then. After school, I felt some of the pressure was off of me and I was free to just make whatever, whenever. Which was good and bad.”.

In advising other student artists, Black said to not get discouraged, take as much constructive criticism you can without letting it define you, have a goal and never give up.

Liberation of the Individual will be up until Aug. 10.

Black works now as a social media manager and content creator for SeaChange Global and can be reached via email at haileyablack@gmail.com for audiences that wish to connect with her about questions, thoughts and feedback — both positive and negative.